The kneazle looked up from where he’d been licking his paw at the incredulity in Terence’s voice before giving everyone in the room a Look and resuming his grooming habits. “Dorothy belonged to a very lovely elderly witch before his accident and she’d not quite figured out his correct gender before naming him and well, it seemed a little unfair of me to try and rename him when Dorothy suits him.” The kneazle was a little old-fashioned, loving and right now preoccupied with the contents of his kibble dish.
“Second drawer to your left.” When they’d first moved into the flat, Rose and Astoria had re-organised things to suit their respective heights and now everything had its proper place. Terence’s presence was alien – boys simply didn’t visit the flat for breakfast and twenty four hours ago if someone had told her Astorias cousin would have slept over, Rose would have laughed in their face. At his comment about it being nothing to fret over, Rose arched an eyebrow. She knew perfectly fine the power of those words and had used them not so long ago to Michael. It meant there was much, much more going on beneath the surface.
Daphne had fought with Astoria? The idea seemed impossible; Daphne was Astoria’s sister and the younger girl idolised Daphne. What could they possibly have fought about that was enough to have Terence coming to Astorias? It wasn’t her place to ask but the question was at the tip of her tongue. The Greengrass family was tight-knit; they didn’t have spats.
“Wor..,” Rose trailed off as the implications behind Terence’s words and anger flashed in her eyes. Daphne might have scared her but Rose’s loyalty lay firmly with Astoria. Whatever had been said, Rose laid the blame at Daphne’s door; Astoria had worked too hard on her stutter for it to come back. If she thought Astoria was up to it, Rose would have gone and simply wrapped her arms around her.
“I’ll keep an eye on her,” she said softly. “Astoria’s stronger than we give her credit for but thankyou for telling me. And the ah, hot chocolate.” Pouring herself a cup of coffee, Rose left the jug out for Terence if he desired some. “Can’t be an easy situation for you either, are you alright?”